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Steam Greenlight Spotlight: DreadOut

DreadOut is a third-person survival horror game being developed by Indonesian studio Digital Happiness. It's a modern take on Fatal Frame with an Indonesian horror mythology flare. The first Fatal Frame (Project Zero in Europe and Zero in Japan) was released in 2001 for PlayStation 2 and eventually Xbox, and is widely regarded as one of the best survival horror games of all time. Its main mechanic is using a camera to photograph ghosts in order to destroy them. DreadOut uses this same mechanic, but with more modern devices, such as a smartphone.

You do not have to love Fatal Frame in order to enjoy DreadOut, you just need to want a true survival horror experience. If you have enjoyed the last three Resident Evil games (not counting spin-offs) more than the original three, then walk away now – DreadOut eschews action for tense, atmospheric horror. There's no running and gunning here, and while there is a Sprint ability, you'll more than likely be cautiously moving along, praying that nothing scares the crap out of you around the next corner.

DreadOut takes place in an "authentic local Indonesian setting" where a group of high school students on vacation stumbled upon a deserted town. This being a survival horror game, said town is unsurprisingly haunted. You control one of the Asian schoolgirls named Linda, with the aforementioned smartphone at your disposal, along with a digital camera and digital video camera, according to the game's description. You can see the smartphone in the video below, which is footage from the demo. While the demo is a healthy 500-600MB, depending on your platform (PC, Mac, or Linux), I really urge you to try it out. Nothing I say can fully illustrate the atmosphere and tension you feel while playing it. Lighting is very sparse in the demo and the audio is superbly done, providing a perfectly eerie feel. I do strongly advise that you hit ESC after starting the game to view the Tutorial, which is simply a static screen that explains the key game elements, such as blurred, colored screen borders under certain situations.

While the demo is short, Digital Happiness promises a "thrilling storyline full of twists," varying gameplay elements, and several authentic Indonesian ghosts to encounter. While the main storyline will be linear, there will also be "options to further explore the world and solve the mysteries within" through optional side quests. There will also be Facebook integration that allows you to share photos you've collected, if you so choose. But don't worry, there's no always-on requirement – the game is DRM-free.

If you like what you see, there is currently an Indiegogo campaign with 22 days remaining (as Digital Happiness is an Indonesian studio, Kickstarter is not available). A minimum of $15 nets you a digital copy of the game upon its release, while additional contributions provide you various extras, both physical and digital. While DreadOut is certainly not for everybody, I could not resist choosing it as this week's Spotlight. If AAA developers are going to abandon pure survival horror (we'll see what The Enemy Within brings), at least indie developers are willing to step up to the challenge!

WOww,, this is THE BEST REVIEW of DREADOUT that i've ever seen around on the internet !!
Btw, those 4 ghosts are actually a small number of the entire ghosts folkfore,
i think there'll be many more ghosts, at least 3 - 4 more ghosts will appear,
and Btw,i've the real stories about them especially for kuntilanak and palasik !!
its GREAT for playing game when thos ghosts are real here, Lol~
*scared shit out of me

Thank you. And yeah, I didn't mean to imply that those were the only ghosts - I simply included all the images from the Greenlight page. I can imagine growing up Indonesia hearing those legends would add a special sort of creepiness to the experience.

hehe, can i give some footage ?
here the link of kuntilanak video,
first, https://www(dot)youtube.com/watch?v=Zvqxng0f-8I
it was the best reality show in asia,it was :(
its taken in Thousand Doors :)
but, its not so clear
but,
if you promise to me to turn off the light while watching this another video,
i'll give you the link,
its the detail of kuntilanak, does she look like in the ghostpedia of dreadout ?? doesnt she ?? do u think thats a fake broken face ?
its taken in west java, there are 5-6 people who have supernatural powers , it was a ghost expedition, https://www(dot)youtube.com/watch?v=ftWWei1a0Uo
you may not believe it, but, please visit indonesia someday to find it by yourselves,
remember what i say, watching this alone when everyone sleeps,
dont forget to turn off the light,
you'll feel more happy,
you said they are legends but,
I'm sorry i've to say that " they are not legends "